I’ve asked some of the best creators on YouTube, “How do you write such great titles?”
And they’ve all said the same thing: “I just model what works.”
So this email will show you 5 videos worth modeling to help you write great titles and save time.
Btw, if you want to save more time and use a title generator that uses all the titles ever featured in Creator Hooks, check out Creator Hooks Pro.
Middle Class Miserable
Title: 8 Middle Class Habits That Keep You Poor
Framework: 8 (Common or Mundane State) Habits That Keep You (Undesirable State)
Hook score: +558
Why this works:
List – Lists make videos feel more tangible (you know exactly what the video will be about) and they add some curiosity.
Negativity – Many people watch this because they don’t want to be poor. Also, “Middle Class” has a negative connotation.
“Habits” – Habits often make great video topics because our culture loves them (Atomic Habits was the best-selling book on Amazon last year).
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience about common habits that keep them in an unwanted state.
Examples of this framework in action:
- 8 Middle School Habits That Keep You Ugly
- 8 “Healthy” Habits That Keep You Fat
Baltimore Blues
Title: The WORST THINGS about living in Baltimore will surprise YOU!
Framework: The WORST THINGS about (Thing Your Audience Wants To Do) will surprise YOU!
Hook score: +621
Why this works:
Negativity – We love hearing about the worst things about something we’re considering doing because we don’t want to make a mistake and do something we’d regret.
Curiosity – “will surprise you” implies that you’re gonna learn a secret or something unexpected in this video.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience that the worst things about something they’re looking into will surprise them.
Examples of this framework in action:
- The WORST THINGS about starting your own business will surprise YOU!
- The WORST THINGS about buying a truck will surprise YOU!
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Familiar, Yet Unknown
Title: How The Crips Gang Actually Works | How Crime Works | Insider
Framework: How (Big, Scary Thing) Actually Works
Hook score: +749
Why this works:
Negativity – People love scary things, like gangs.
Curiosity – “Actually” implies you didn’t really know before, but now you’re finally going to learn the truth.
Familiar, Yet Unknown – Everybody knows who the Crips are, but most people don’t know anything about them, which makes for a great, curiosity-filled topic.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience how something they’ve heard about, and know is dangerous, but don’t know anything more than that, actually works.
Examples of this framework in action:
- How Black Holes Actually Work
- Why The Bermuda Triangle Is So Deadly
What’s Hard Is Easy
Title: It’s actually pretty easy to get ahead of 99% of people.
Framework: It’s actually pretty easy to (Achieve Goal Better Than) 99% of people.
Hook score: +1518
Why this works:
Desire – This creator’s audience wants to get ahead of 99% of people.
Curiosity – It’s hard to get ahead of 99% of people, so this title is counterintuitive. It makes you think, “Am I missing something?”
Confidence – The casual nature of this title and the bold statement that something really hard is easy gives off a feeling of confidence that is intoxicating.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience that it’s actually easy to achieve something really hard.
Examples of this framework in action:
- It’s actually pretty easy to be better at golf than 99% of people.
- It’s actually easy to play 95% of songs on the piano
But why?
Title: Be Extremely Careful When Peeling The Sticker Of Any Fruit
Framework: Be Extremely Careful When (Doing Common or Simple Innocent Thing)
Hook score: +1566
Why this works:
Negativity – Warnings like this do a great job of grabbing people’s attention and getting them to click.
Curiosity – This is counterintuitive because peeling the sticker of of fruits seems like a simple, innocent thing, so why would you need to be extremely careful?
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience to be careful when doing something seemingly innocent and easy.
Examples of this framework in action:
- Be Extremely Careful When Getting A Mortgage In 2024
- Be Extremely Careful When Growing Your Own Potatoes
Flop of the Week
Title: This strategy guarantees you get into the Ivy League.
Hook score: -92
Why this flopped: Most of this creator’s successful videos are broadly appealing, like:
- You’ve been reading wrong all your life.
- This odd mindset shift cured my procrastination forever.
- It’s actually pretty easy to get ahead of 99% of people.
Nearly everybody can watch and enjoy these videos, but this Ivy League video has only a fraction of the potential audience.
One thing he could’ve done was make it a bit broader, like this: “This strategy guarantees you get into your dream school.”
(I don’t necessarily love this because it feels like I might be watering the idea down — just throwing it out there as one potential way to broaden it up.)
Another thing he could do in the future is just stick to more broadly appealing topics.
Now all that being said, this creator offers coaching services to Ivy League applicants. It’s possible he’s making more money from these 9.8K viewers than on some of his videos that are getting over 100K views.
If that’s the case, he may want to make even more Ivy League-specific content.
Of course, when thinking about strategy for your channel, it all about your goals for the channel. Do you want to maximize views? Or do you have a better way to monetize and it’s actually smarter to go for a smaller, more specific audience?
Alright, that wraps up this week’s Creator Hooks!
Hope you enjoyed this week’s edition and if you know a fellow creator who needs help writing better titles, please send them to creatorhooks.com.
– Jake
(@jthomas__ on Twitter)
P.S. Read previous editions here.
P.P.S. If you want to see all of the videos from Creator Hooks in one place, check out Creator Hooks Pro.